Ready football team set to return bulk of roster after reaching regional semifinal

A rough first few weeks of the season included what the Ready football team considered a wake-up call when it lost 36-35 in double-overtime to Buckeye Valley on Sept. 9.

The Silver Knights had their opener against Newark Catholic canceled on Aug. 20 because of bad weather.

After winning 68-0 in Week 2 over Toledo Woodward, which went on to finish 0-10, Ready lost 28-7 on Sept. 2 to a Watterson team that emerged as one of the area’s best in Division III and 41-7 to Harvest Prep on Sept. 23 in addition to beating Columbus Academy 49-21 on Sept. 16.

“After the double-overtime loss to Buckeye Valley and a loss to Harvest Prep, we were only 2-3,” sophomore linebacker Kasen Abbott said. “We just said we had to take a big step up in our game just to make the playoffs. We were more individual at the beginning of the season, but after that we came together. We obviously have a lot of young guys, so myself and a bunch of others needed to step up because we lost a lot of vocal leaders from last year.”

Ready closed the regular season with four consecutive wins to wrap up the No. 9 seed for the Division IV, Region 15 playoffs and then won playoff games at eighth-seeded Marion-Franklin (50-12 on Oct. 28) and top-seeded St. Clairsville (24-21 on Nov. 4).

The Knights fell 34-10 to fourth-seeded Gnadenhutten Indian Valley on Nov. 11 in a regional semifinal to finish 8-4.

“I give Indian Valley credit because they were a very good football team and they had an edge (in playoff experience),” coach Michael Schaefer said. “We did improve throughout the season. Our season didn’t start off the way any of us wanted it to, so I’m proud of our kids and our coaches for hanging in there and growing.”

Ready is scheduled to open against Newark Catholic again next season, when the Knights will compete in the new Central Buckeye League, which also will feature Bexley, Buckeye Valley, Columbus Academy and Whitehall.

The schools Ready will join in the CBL are all members of the MSL-Ohio Division, a league the Knights have been auxiliary members of since 2017.

“I’m excited (to be in the CBL),” Schaefer said. “Like most schools, you play the league games in the last half of your season. We’ll have an opportunity to play for a league championship.”

Abbott completed his second season as a starter on defense and finished with 83.5 tackles, six tackles for loss and nine pass breakups while earning first-team all-district and all-CCL honors.

Also making first-team all-district were senior running back Brian Fitzsimmons, junior offensive tackle Tylar Mix, junior defensive back J.D. Catena and junior kicker Drew Craddock.

Fitzsimmons rushed for 1,256 yards and 19 touchdowns on 232 carries and added 153 yards on 17 receptions, but sophomores Kentrell Rinehart and Anthony Campbell will return at running back.

Rinehart was special/honorable mention all-district while finishing with 944 yards and 17 touchdowns on 144 carries and 312 yards and four scores on 35 catches, and Campbell added 422 yards and seven touchdowns on 61 rushes.

Catena (60.5 tackles, 16 pass breakups) also earned first-team all-CCL honors.

Other key seniors included quarterback Kaleb Schaffer, center Logan Dimel and guards Chantz Akers and Aidan Montgomery on offense, linebacker Cullen Dent and lineman Jared Koboi on defense and Braylon Cornell on both sides of the ball.

Schaffer completed 112 of 178 passes for 1,067 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions.

Dimel was special/honorable mention all-district, Cullen Dent had 38.5 tackles and seven tackles for loss while earning special/honorable mention all-district and all-CCL honors, Koboi had 29 tackles, three sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss and Cornell had 10 catches for 50 yards and one touchdown at wide receiver and 27.5 tackles with 14 pass breakups at defensive back.

Sophomore Jacob Cheatham and freshman Jay Dixon are the top two options to take over at quarterback.

Junior offensive tackle Jude Kusan was special/honorable mention all-district along with junior wide receiver Dalton Miller, who had 28 catches for 327 yards and four touchdowns, returned 14 kickoffs for a 23.4 average and returned 15 punts for a 21.8 average with one touchdown.

Sophomore wide receiver Kayden Schaffer had 24 receptions for 300 yards and three touchdowns.

Also expected to return on defense are juniors Branden Joseph (DL), Jordan Mullens (LB) and Giovanni Smith (DL) and sophomores Conlan Dent (LB), Jayden McGhee (DB), Presto Tirey (DB) and Luke Whitmer (DB).

Conlan Dent was special/honorable mention all-district with 65 tackles and seven tackles for loss, Mullens had 41 tackles, Tirey had 38 tackles and nine pass breakups and Whitmer had 30.5 tackles and 16 pass breakups.

Craddock made seven of 10 field goals and went 50-for-53 on extra points and also was the punter.

“We’ve got a lot coming back,” Schaefer said. “It was a good run and I’m proud of our staff. We’ll take some time to re-load and refresh. We have a lot of younger players who gained some valuable experience.”

julrey@thisweeknews.com 

@UlreyThisWeek 

READY FOOTBALL

•Record: 8-4 overall

•Seniors lost: Chantz Akers, Logan Bonacci, Braylon Cornell, Cullen Dent, Logan Dimel, Brian Fitzsimmons, Jared Koboi, Aaron Marshall, Dylan Melrose, Aidan Montgomery, Kaleb Schaffer and Lee Tracy Jr.

•Key returnees: Kasen Abbott, Anthony Campbell, J.D. Catena, Conlan Dent, Dalton Miller, Jordan Mullens, Kentrell Rinehart, Kayden Schaffer, Preston Tirey and Luke Whitmer

•Postseason: Def. Marion-Franklin 50-12; def. St. Clairsville 24-21; lost to Gnadenhutten Indian Valley 34-10 in Division IV, Region 15 semifinal

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Ready football team set to return bulk of roster